General assembly thirty-seventh regular session panama, republic of panama



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RECALLING resolutions AG/RES. 1923 (XXXIII-O/03), AG/RES. 2033 (XXXIV-O/04), AG/RES. 2065 (XXXV-O/05), and AG/RES. 2217 (XXXVI-O/06), which, respectively, convened CIDIP-VII; analyzed member state proposals for CIDIP-VII; selected Consumer Protection and Secured Transaction Registries as the two topics for its agenda; and established its methodology and preparatory work; and
CONSIDERING:
That a considerable number of states have appointed their government experts for drafting and discussing preparatory documents for CIDIP-VII, and that the Permanent Council adopted the methodology whereby government and independent experts are currently participating in the preparation of inter-American documents on consumer protection and secured transaction registries;
That in the area of consumer protection, the Government of Brazil has proposed a draft Convention on Applicable Law; the Government of Canada, a Draft Model Law on Jurisdiction and Applicable Law; and the Government of the United States, a Model Law on Monetary Redress;
That the Government of Brazil, in collaboration with the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, organized a meeting of experts on consumer protection, held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, from December 2 to 4, 2006, at which the experts conducted negotiations on the draft Convention and Model Laws on consumer protection; and
That on the basis of the results of that meeting and subsequent consultations, pursuant to the methodology established by the Permanent Council, the proposing states are working toward completing their draft Convention and Model Laws on consumer protection; and that, despite advances on this topic, states have not yet presented specific proposals on the secured transactions registries topic,
RESOLVES:


  1. To express its full satisfaction with the preparatory work carried out to date in the area of consumer protection; and to instruct the experts to continue this work with a view to completing a proposed Convention and Model Laws on the topic.

  2. To instruct the member states to present their draft inter-American instruments on secured transaction registries; and to instruct the experts to begin their preparatory work on the basis of those proposals.




  1. To express its heartfelt appreciation to the Government of Brazil and the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, for organizing the Meeting of Experts on Consumer Protection; and to encourage member states to complete their preparatory work through working groups and to sponsor additional meetings of experts, as necessary, to complete the texts of conventions and other instruments for the Seventh Inter-American Specialized Conference on Private International Law (CIDIP-VII).




  1. To instruct the General Secretariat to continue lending its support, through the Office of International Law of the Department of International Legal Affairs, to the preparation of conventions and model laws for consideration by CIDIP-VII and, if necessary, to seek external funding for the preparatory and final work of this Conference.




  1. To instruct the Permanent Council to set a date (or dates) for CIDIP-VII, which may take the form of separate diplomatic conferences, if necessary, one when the experts complete their preparatory work on consumer protection and the other when they complete their work on secured transactions registries, recalling that the methodology approved for CIDIP-VII by the Permanent Council in document CP/CAJP-2309/05 permits this separation.




  1. To instruct the Permanent Council to follow up on this resolution, which will be implemented within the resources allocated in the program-budget of the Organization and other resources, and to present a report on its implementation to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth regular session.

AG/RES. 2286 (XXXVII-O/07)
INTER-AMERICAN PROGRAM FOR A UNIVERSAL CIVIL REGISTRY

AND “THE RIGHT TO IDENTITY”


(Adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 5, 2007)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,


HAVING SEEN resolution AG/RES. 2196 (XXXVI-O/06), “Cooperation between the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States and the Secretariat of the United Nations System, the General Secretariat of the Central American Integration System, the General Secretariat of the Caribbean Community, and the Secretariat of the Association of Caribbean States,” in which the General Assembly resolved to request the Secretary General to continue and to strengthen activities involving cooperation between the OAS General Secretariat and each of the aforementioned organizations;
RECOGNIZING the obligations of the states parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child to undertake to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity (“right to identity”);
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the Memorandum of Understanding among the United Nations Children’s Fund and the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Development Bank for Cooperation in the Area of Citizen Registration, signed on August 8, 2006, which notes, inter alia, that the General Secretariat is committed to “strengthening governance through the modernization of the state and to the recognition and strengthening of the right to identity through programs and projects to increase access to citizen registration and to build capacity of institutions responsible for registration in Latin American and the Caribbean as the cornerstone of its development activities”;
CONSIDERING that, in response to requests from Peru and Mexico, on December 13, 2006, the Permanent Council received an extensive report from the General Secretariat on the aims and areas of cooperation that would be addressed under this Memorandum of Understanding;
TAKING NOTE of the document prepared by the Executive Secretariat for Integral Development (CP/CAJP-2482/07), of April 16, 2007, entitled “Preliminary Thoughts on Universal Civil Registry and the Right of Identity”;
CONSIDERING that recognition of the identity of persons is one of the means through which observance of the rights to legal personhood, a name, a nationality, civil registration, and family relationships is facilitated, among other rights recognized in international instruments, such as the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man and the American Convention on Human Rights. The exercise of these rights is essential for participation in a democratic society;
CONSIDERING ALSO that non-recognition of identity can mean that a person has no legal proof of his or her existence, which makes it difficult to exercise fully his or her civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights;

EMPHASIZING the importance of civil registries as state institutions that can guarantee recognition of the identity of persons and, therefore, the advisability of strengthening them to ensure that their scope is universal, taking into account the rich and varied diversity of cultures;


RECALLING that the Inter-American Democratic Charter establishes that it is the right and responsibility of all citizens to participate in decisions relating to their own development;
COMMITTED to building just, equitable societies based on the principles of social justice and social inclusion; and
TAKING NOTE of the special meeting of the Permanent Council held on March 9, 2007, on “childhood, the right of identity, and citizenship,” and the report thereon (CP/doc.4202/07); and recalling that, at this stage, it was agreed to request of the Inter-American Juridical Committee (CJI) an opinion on the scope of the right of identity,
RESOLVES:


  1. To urge the member states to adopt measures, such as the elimination of underregistration, to ensure full recognition of the right to identity, which is essential to the exercise of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights.




  1. To congratulate the General Secretariat on the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding among the United Nations Children’s Fund and the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Development Bank for Cooperation in the Area of Citizen Registration; and to encourage it to implement all the objectives set forth in said Memorandum in a comprehensive and balanced manner.




  1. To instruct the Permanent Council, in the context of the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs, to form a working group to prepare an Inter-American Program for a Universal Civil Registry and “the Right to Identity.”




  1. To request the General Secretariat to draft a proposed Inter-American Program for a Universal Civil Registry and “the Right to Identity,” taking into account the following guidelines:




      1. Ensure that the birth registry, which is used to ensure the right of civil identity, with emphasis on persons in poverty and at risk, is universal, accessible, and, if possible, cost-free;




      1. Promote a multidimensional approach to this topic, which takes into account the rich and varied diversity of cultures in the Americas, considering its relationship with the enjoyment of rights and freedoms, with the modernization and transparency of state institutions, and with citizen participation in the democratic societies of the Hemisphere;




      1. Support governments in the modernization of their identity registries, in national plans to restore identity, and in the updating of vital statistics;

      2. Promote citizen participation through universalization of the civil registry to protect and demand the effective exercise of and respect for the right to identity;




      1. Foster regional cooperation, with a view to drawing upon the successful experiences of countries in the Hemisphere that have implemented social programs to guarantee the right of identity to their citizens by issuing the appropriate government identification documents;




      1. To the extent possible, consider factors aimed at harmonizing laws in force in the various member states in the area of the identity of persons; and




      1. Foster uniformity in registration systems, so as to obtain instruments that will enable their use in the various member states.




  1. To request the General Secretariat to present, in the second half of 2007, a report on progress made in implementing the above-mentioned Memorandum of Understanding in order to contribute to the work of the working group to prepare an Inter-American Program for a Universal Civil Registry and “the Right to Identity.”




  1. To request the Permanent Council to continue supporting efforts under the above-mentioned Memorandum of Understanding.




  1. To request the Inter-American Children’s Institute (IIN) to continue working on the topic “[t]o ensure children’s right to identity and citizenship,” as set out in its Strategic Plan 2005-2008, and to keep the Permanent Council informed of progress and obstacles in the region.




  1. To encourage the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to conclude its study and report on the issue of underregistration and promotion of the right to identity in the region, which report is of vital importance for implementation of the Program and for the holding of the First Inter-American Conference on the Universal Birth Registry, to take place in Asunción, Paraguay, from August 27 to 31, 2007.




  1. To invite the competent organs, specialized agencies, and entities of the inter-American system, as well as the member states, to forward their contributions relevant to the work of the working group to prepare an Inter-American Program for a Universal Civil Registry and “the Right to Identity.”




  1. To request the Permanent Council to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth regular session on the implementation of this resolution, which will be carried out within the resources allocated in the program-budget of the Organization and other resources.

AG/RES. 2287 (XXXVII-O/07)
RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF THOUGHT AND EXPRESSION
AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MEDIA
(Adopted at the fourth plenary session, held on June 5, 2007)

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,


HAVING SEEN the Annual Report of the Permanent Council to the General Assembly (AG/doc.4698/07 corr. 1);
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT resolution AG/RES. 2237 (XXXVI-O/06), “Right to Freedom of Thought and Expression and the Importance of the Media”;
UNDERSCORING the Declaration of Santo Domingo: Good Governance and Development in the Knowledge-Based Society [AG/DEC. 46 (XXXVI-O/06)], adopted on June 6, 2006;
RECALLING that the right to freedom of thought and expression, which includes the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, is recognized in Article IV of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights, the Inter-American Democratic Charter (including Article 4), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and other international instruments and national constitutions, as well as United Nations General Assembly resolution 59 (I) and resolution 104 of the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO);
RECALLING ALSO that Article IV of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man states that “[e]very person has the right to freedom of investigation, of opinion, and of the expression and dissemination of ideas, by any medium whatsoever”;
RECALLING FURTHER that Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights states that:


  1. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought and expression. This right includes freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing, in print, in the form of art, or through any other medium of one’s choice;




  1. The exercise of the right provided for in the foregoing paragraph shall not be subject to prior censorship but shall be subject to subsequent imposition of liability, which shall be expressly established by law to the extent necessary to ensure:




  1. Respect for the rights or reputations of others; or




  1. The protection of national security, public order, or public health or morals.




  1. The right of expression may not be restricted by indirect methods or means, such as the abuse of government or private controls over newsprint, radio broadcasting frequencies, or equipment used in the dissemination of information, or by any other means tending to impede the communication and circulation of ideas and opinions.




  1. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 2 above, public entertainments may be subject by law to prior censorship for the sole purpose of regulating access to them for the moral protection of childhood and adolescence.




  1. Any propaganda for war and any advocacy of national, racial, or religious hatred that constitute incitements to lawless violence or to any other similar action against any person or group of persons on any grounds including those of race, color, religion, language, or national origin shall be considered as offenses punishable by law;

BEARING IN MIND principles 10 and 11 of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), of 2000, which refer to the decriminalization of “desacato” (offensive expressions directed at public officials);


RECALLING the relevant volumes of the Annual Reports of the IACHR for 2004, 2005, and 2006 on freedom of expression, as well as the comments by member states during meetings at which said reports were presented;
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT resolutions 2004/42 and 2005/38, “The Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression,” of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights; and
RECALLING the significance of the studies and contributions approved by UNESCO regarding the contribution of the media to strengthening peace, tolerance, and international understanding, to the promotion of human rights, and to countering racism and incitement to war,
RESOLVES:


        1. To reaffirm the right to freedom of expression and to call upon member states to respect and ensure respect for this right, in accordance with the international human rights instruments to which they are party, such as the American Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, inter alia.




        1. To reaffirm that freedom of expression and dissemination of ideas are fundamental for the exercise of democracy.




        1. To urge member states to safeguard, within the framework of the international instruments to which they are party, respect for freedom of expression in the media, including radio and television, and, in particular, respect for the editorial independence and freedom of the media.




        1. To urge those member states that have not yet done so to consider signing and ratifying, ratifying, or acceding to, as the case may be, the American Convention on Human Rights.




        1. To reaffirm that free and independent media are fundamental for democracy and for the promotion of pluralism, tolerance, and freedom of thought and expression; and to facilitate dialogue and debate, free and open to all segments of society, without discrimination of any kind.




        1. To urge member states to promote a pluralistic approach to information and multiple points of view by fostering full exercise of freedom of expression and thought, access to media, and diversity in the ownership of media outlets and sources of information, through, inter alia, transparent licensing systems and, as appropriate, effective regulations to prevent the undue concentration of media ownership.




        1. To urge member states to consider the importance of including, in their domestic legal systems, rules about the establishment of alternative or community media and safeguards to ensure that they are able to operate independently, so as to broaden the dissemination of information and opinions, thereby strengthening freedom of expression.




        1. To call upon member states to adopt all necessary measures to prevent violations of the right to freedom of thought and expression and to create the necessary conditions for that purpose, including ensuring that relevant national legislation complies with their international human rights obligations and is effectively implemented.




        1. To urge member states to review their procedures, practices, and legislation, as necessary, to ensure that any limitations on the right to freedom of opinion and expression are only such as are provided by law and are necessary for respect of the rights or reputations of others or for the protection of national security, public order (ordre public), or public health or morals.




        1. To recognize the valuable contribution of information and communication technologies, such as the Internet, to the exercise of the right to freedom of expression and to the ability of persons to seek, receive, and impart information, as well the contributions they can make to the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related and contemporary forms of intolerance, and to the prevention of human rights abuses.




        1. To request the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights once again to follow up on and deepen its study of the issues addressed in the relevant volumes of its 2004, 2005, and 2006 Annual Reports on freedom of expression, on the basis, inter alia, of the inputs on the subject that it receives from member states.




        1. To invite member states to consider the recommendations concerning defamation made by the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the IACHR, namely by repealing or amending laws that criminalize desacato, defamation, slander, and libel, and, in this regard, to regulate these conducts exclusively in the area of civil law.

        2. To reiterate to the Permanent Council that, through its Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs, it is to hold a special two-day meeting to delve further into the existing international jurisprudence on the subject covered in Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights and include the following items on the agenda of that meeting:




  1. Public demonstrations as exercise of the right to freedom of expression; and




  1. The subject of Article 11 of the American Convention on Human Rights.

Invitees to the aforementioned meeting will include members of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, including the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, and experts from the member states, all for the purpose of sharing their experiences with these issues.




        1. To take into consideration the findings of, and views expressed at, the Special Meeting on Freedom of Thought and Expression, held on October 26 and 27, 2006, in the framework of the Committee on Juridical and Political Affairs; and to request the Special Rapporteur of the IACHR to report on the conclusions and recommendations issued by the experts at that special meeting, in order to follow up on the matter.




        1. To request the Permanent Council to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-eighth regular session on the implementation of this resolution, which will be carried out within the resources allocated in the program-budget of the Organization and other resources.


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